The last few weeks have seen one director-general leave and a former executive
return to take his place. Now for some BBC employees, the ins and outs at
the corporation have literally become a pain.

As if the comings and goings at the top of the embattled organisation were not enough, staff are having to endure bruised heels and stubbed toes caused by revolving doors at its new £1 billion headquarters.

Workers have lodged a string of complaints over the automatic doors, which are said to have compartments that are too small and “minds of their own”.

Rob Pobjoy, a technician who works at New Broadcasting House in central London, which opened earlier this year, said that he hurt either his toes of his heels depending on how fast he walked through the moving doors.

He said: “Most days on my way in and out of NBH (New Broadcasting House), I often find my heel being pushed by the revolving door. As far as I’m aware, I walk at normal pace

“Yet, it seems to me that if I attempt to keep pace, I seem to be going too fast, resulting in my toes kicking the door.

Ian Jolly, who works in the BBC newsroom, also complained about the doors in the corporation’s Ariel magazine.

“I’ve been going through doors all my life,” he wrote. “In fact, I’m pretty good at it, but I’ve clearly lost my touch now I’m working at Broadcasting House.

“I’ve been told my problem is that I ‘go through the door too late’.

“Funny, as it’s never been an issue before – could it be the BBC’s over-engineered, electronic revolving doors that are at fault?”

Another employee, who did not wish to be named, said: “The revolving doors are a bit of a pain – they seem to have a mind of their own.”

Users complain that each of the four compartments in the revolving doors are too small, meaning that they had to enter the contraption with perfect timing to avoid getting into difficulties.

One said: “When new members of staff come here they regularly comment on the doors being difficult to judge. After a while you learn to master the doors, but you shouldn’t have to really.”

It is the latest criticism of the BBC’s refurbishment and extension of its headquarters, which faced controversy over its spiralling cost and complaints from some staff that its state-of-the-art newsroom – supposed to be a paperless office – lacked bins.

However, some may be consoling themselves that at least they have not had to move north to its new hub in Salford – where the corporation’s headquarters was named the ugliest building in Britain by a panel of architecture critics.